THE WOMAN IN WHITE
462 Words
The bells stopped as suddenly as they had begun.
Silence swallowed the manor once again.
Alexa's breathing grew ragged.
Every instinct screamed at her to run.
Run back to the car.
Drive until Black Hollow disappeared in her rearview mirror.
But her feet refused to move.
The whisper still lingered in her ears.
"You finally came home."
She grabbed her flashlight from the floor with trembling hands.
The beam danced across the room.
Nothing.
No one.
Just old furniture coated in dust.
Had she imagined it?
"No..." she whispered to herself. "I'm just exhausted."
She turned toward the front door.
Locked.
Her heart skipped.
She had left it open.
She was certain she had.
The heavy oak door wouldn't budge.
She pulled harder.
Still nothing.
Outside, the wind howled.
Inside...
Someone laughed.
A woman's soft, haunting laugh echoed through the halls.
Alexa spun around.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
Only footsteps.
Slow...
Measured...
Coming from upstairs.
Tap...
Tap...
Tap...
The sound stopped directly above her.
She looked toward the ceiling.
A single drop of dark liquid landed on her hand.
She frowned.
It wasn't water.
It was red.
Blood.
Her stomach tightened.
She slowly raised the flashlight.
The ceiling was clean.
No stain.
No leak.
Nothing.
When she looked back at her palm...
The blood had vanished.
---
A knock echoed through the manor.
Three slow knocks.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Alexa rushed to the door.
This time it opened.
Standing beneath the rain was a tall man dressed in a black coat.
His dark hair was soaked, and his gray eyes were fixed on the house—not on her.
"You shouldn't stay here," he said quietly.
Alexa frowned.
"And you are?"
"Damien."
His gaze finally met hers.
"Damien Blackwood."
"The lawyer sent you?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
He hesitated.
"I heard the bells."
A chill ran through Alexa.
"You heard them too?"
Damien's expression darkened.
"They only ring when she wakes."
Before Alexa could ask what he meant...
His eyes widened.
"Get down!"
He lunged forward.
CRASH!
The enormous crystal chandelier exploded onto the floor where Alexa had been standing only a second earlier.
Glass scattered across the room.
Alexa stared at the shattered pieces, unable to speak.
Damien slowly looked up toward the second floor.
Standing at the end of the hallway...
Bathed in moonlight...
Was a woman in a torn wedding dress.
Her veil covered her face.
Dark red stains spread across the white fabric.
She held a bouquet of withered roses.
Neither of them dared to breathe.
The bride slowly lifted one hand...
And pointed directly at Alexa.
Then, in a voice that sounded like dozens of whispers speaking at once, she said,
"The wedding begins in seven days."
The lights went out.
Everything fell into darkness.
- Writer
